Monopoly
by unjust
Summary: The truth is, I've always been intrigued by him. The stranger that stole my first kiss, to when he became the boy who stole my heart. To me, our love is a game of monopoly. Until the game ends, we still have a chance." AU.
1. Freshman

**Author's Note: **I've lurked on this site plenty of times before, and for once, I have decided to try to write something. I have nothing pre-written, so, we'll see how this goes, yes?

*Please excuse any grammatical mistakes.

-

_I couldn't focus on what our principal was saying. His speech was unimportant to me anyways. I didn't even have to listen to his words. Obviously, he was spewing all this crap about how the school year went by so quickly, our accomplishments of the year, and how proud he is of us to finally have reached promotion. _

_I fumbled with the complementary keychain in my hands, we were only promoting from middle school after all, so we didn't have those fancy graduation caps. If I had a cap, it probably would have broken from how distracted I was. _

_A keychain, that's okay. _

"…_and I present to you, East Middle School's class of 2009!" _

_We did it, we're in high school. _

_-_

"FRESHMAN, up, out of bed!" one of my brothers, Sean, called from the outside of my bedroom as he knocked continuously.

I wanted to just to ignore him. I tried to ignore and hoped to savage just a few more seconds, or minutes of sleep. But, I couldn't block him out, he was just too loud.

"Wake up, rise and shine! Today is all about _you_!" Michael added noisily.

"Fuck you Kuya, it's only like what," my eyes opened and averted their attention to the red numbers on my alarm, "five in the morning?! Orientation doesn't even start until seven, so why are you even trying to get me out of bed?" I flared back as a buried my head under my pillow to attempt to silence whatever stupid responses my brothers would use next.

"It's a good thing we're at least trying to get your butt out of bed! If it wasn't for us, you'd click the snooze on your alarm so many times, you wouldn't get out of bed. And then, you'd be late." Michael retorted.

Finally, it was silent.

I heard water flowing from the bathroom closest to my room, the one the three of us share. Good. Hopefully, whoever is in the shower will take a long enough for me to fall back into my perfect dreamland.

Only, I couldn't go back to sleep, not after being so rudely awakened.

Damn it.

I heard my door opened, and I was prepared to cuss out either Michael, or Sean, depending on which of them hadn't stepped into the shower.

"Gabrielle," a very calm and sweet voice called out. "Open your eyes and get ready for your orientation."

My given name is Gabriella Mae Montez, but towards the end of this past school year, I decided Gabrielle sounded more mature, and sophisticated. After a bit of time, students, teachers, and my siblings adjusted to the new name and stopped calling me Gabriella.

It definitely wasn't Sean or Michael, the voice was feminine. Oh well, I guess I'll save the cussing for another time.

"Alright, I give up on sleeping longer, when clearly it isn't working out. I'm awake, and today, I'm a freshman." I mumbled as I pushed my blankets off, lifted my body out of my comfort zone, and found myself staring into the face of my older sister, Jasmin.

"I'm going to go downstairs and make everyone some breakfast, okay? Sean just got out of the shower, and Michael is showering right now. You can shower in my bathroom after you pick your clothes." she said as she turned on my light and gently closed the door behind her.

I opened my closet, and tried to allow my eyes to adjust to the light that instantly flooded the room. I grabbed a white tank top, blue and black flannel shirt, dark blue skinny jeans and a black belt that didn't serve the typical purpose of holding my pants up. It just looked pretty when I placed it over my flannel shirt.

Once I picked out my clothes, I stepped into the shower and let the warm water wash my sleepiness away. As I stepped out, I wrapped myself in a towel and started blow-drying my hair. When my hair was completely dry, I straightened my repulsive curls. I loathed my natural hair, and wished I had naturally straight hair like Jasmin.

When my hair was straightened, I grabbed a comb, and some hairspray to tease my top layers. Once my hair looked presentable, I changed into my 'fit and opened the drawer where I kept make-up. I would only use a little bit of eyeliner, to make my eyes look a little prettier than they actually were.

Soon after, I found myself grabbing my backpack for loose papers and textbooks I'd be getting later on. Then, I descended down the stairs to see my brothers sitting comfortably in the kitchen as Jasmin prepared eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes, and some orange juice.

"Good morning!" I said happily, awake and alert after that wondrous shower.

"Freshman." Michael and Sean replied in unison, the nerve of those two.

Sean Montez. Michael Montez. They're my older twin brothers, whom I call Kuya respectively. Although, I don't think I should respect them half as much as I do, they're both a pain in my ass. They're upcoming juniors this year school year. Sean is the captain of the football team. Michael is the co-captains of the basketball team, and the other co-captain is unknown to me. Sure, they're nice, on occasion and I know they got my back. But as of right now, I'm only a freshman. They don't plan on letting me forget it.

"Be nice to her." Jasmin scolded as she placed our breakfast onto the table.

"Exactly, you guys were freshman like two years ago! Besides, it's not so bad being a freshman; I'm finally in high school, aren't I?" I said between bites.

Unlike Kuya Sean and Kuya Michael, Ate (Ah-teh) Jasmin is amazing. She's an upcoming junior at Stanford University, and manages to balance her studies, her modeling career, and taking care of us. Since she doesn't start school until November, and we're year round, meaning we start school in July, she's home and keeping the chaos to a minimum.

Our family consists of only the four of us. Our so-called father left us when I was like two, and mom died two years ago from cancer.

Jasmin had barely graduated high school, and if she wanted, she could have just left us behind and lead her life however she wanted without us. But, she didn't. Instead of abandoning her siblings and letting us get sent to our relatives or orphanages she fought to be our guardian and won.

Overall, the word amazing couldn't truly describe Ate Jasmin.

"Ey, Sean, Gabrielle, let's go, or we'll be late!" Michael said smoothly as he gulped his orange juice and grabbed his car keys with his other hand.

I walked over to the shoe cabinet, found my black sandals, and turned to Ate. "Bye!"

In moments, the three of us were sitting in Michael's car and driving to orientation.

It wasn't that they had orientation as well, because obviously they don't. Both of my Kuyas were **Link Crew** leaders this year. My brothers, being my brothers, hadn't done enough community service yet, and being a Link Crew leader would help them with that. Link Crew leaders are put into teams of two, one girl and one guy. They are suppose to tour the freshman around campus, answer any questions and help them be less nervous and whatnot. Thankfully, neither Sean, nor Michael, is my guide.

"What kind of music is this Elle?!" Sean moaned as one of my favorite songs from the 90's started playing.

"You know it's good, I heard you humming along under your breath, don't deny it Kuya!" I argued back.

Michael kept silent in our argument as he followed the road to East High. Regardless of how the main road was shorter in distant, it usually had more traffic and red lights. So, on the way to and from school, we're always on the back road, no red lights, and less people.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Michael interrupted our argument as he slammed on the breaks.

Some asshole in a nice car swerved in front of us, stopped and completely blocked our way.

"Out." The guy in Aviators said to the blonde, seemingly slutty girl sitting next to him in the car.

"No," she cried, rather melodramatically might I add. "You can't dump me like this. I thought you actually liked me. It hasn't even been a day, and you're already breaking up with me?"

"Serena, you thought wrong. I only went out with you because of a bet. In twenty-four hours I would have your kiss. You aren't even worth the twenty-four hours, not even a challenge." He smoothly replied as he gestured for her to step out of his car.

I burst out of the car and entered their argument. "I can't stand guys like you. You use people for your own personal benefit. Have you taken into consideration how Ms. Serena feels about this? No, you're just being an asshole, and clearly, you have to realize there are more people in this world than you!"

"Miss," he took off his Aviators, and revealed his crystal blue eyes. "This doesn't concern you. This matter is only between Serena and I. So, butt out!"

"On the contrary, it does. My brothers and I are on our way to school, but with you blocking the way, we can't possibly move."

He took a step closer to me, I took one back. He took another, I took another. This continued until I was backed into his car door with no way to move back any further.

"Kuya, let me handle myself, okay?" I said towards the car as I prepared to sock this guy in the face.

But, before I could, I felt his lips press against mine. I could only stand there in shock.

One. Two. Three. Four.

Four seconds of having his lips pressed to mine. Who the hell was this guy?

My first kiss, stolen by him.

I found myself guarded by my brothers as they intervened.

Mr. Aviators acted as if we weren't there as he turned his attention to Serena.

"See, I can so easily replace you. Your kiss, you liking me, it means nothing. Thanks for letting me win my bet though. For that much, I am grateful."

"Look," Michael grabbed him, and turned him so he was clearly paying attention to us. "You can do your little bets to steal girl's kisses, but when did our sister become one of your targets? You met her like three fucking minutes ago and you already pressed your lips to hers. You're a good guy, I know you are and we haven't interfered with your bets before. Lip-locking with our sister, without her consent, that just makes you a bastard."

Sean grabbed Serena's hand and led her to our car. "You don't need to be with him, believe me." He said as he opened the car door and she stepped in.

"Kindly, move your car, so we can drive to school." I added as I got into the car.

Michael said a few words; I couldn't make out the rest of the conversation. Then, he moved his car and we continued the drive to school.

We turned the music off, and the ride was pretty much silent from there.

As we entered East High's parking lot, I saw my friends standing in a deformed circle. I laughed, and when Kuya Michael parked, my brothers, Serena and I opened our doors and got out.

I kissed both of them on the cheek, and said "Bye see you later," as I walked towards the group and the three of them walked to the Gym. My friends and I would be walking there later.

"Good luck!" they chimed back.

"Hey!" I smiled as I neared everyone.

"Elle, I didn't think your brothers could get more gorgeous. But, somehow, they did! But, who is that chick walking next to them?" Sharpay Evans exclaimed, drooling over my Kuyas distant images and curious about Serena.

"Don't worry about Serena, I just met her today, she seemed pretty broken, so we gave her a ride here. We'll probably give her a ride home, or she'll find one, I don't even know."

And EW. I made a gagging motion. My brothers? Gross.

Then, I noticed her usual brown locks were transformed. They were a golden blonde and made her brown eyes pop out.

"You went blonde without even telling me?!" I shrieked. My voice went up a few notes, but it wasn't like I intended for it to do that.

She shrugged and turned her attention away from my Kuyas. "Blondes have more fun, and it is high school after all. Something different never hurt anyone." She countered in a "duh" tone.

"She's right, blonde is what it's about." Her older brother, Ryan agreed.

Ryan Evans was a sophomore and one of our drama club's choreographers. His best friend, Chad Danforth, was also a sophomore and member of the basketball team.

For reasons unknown, Ryan and Chad managed to snag two spots as Link Crew leaders, even though most of the guides were juniors or seniors.

Ryan ended up with naturally blonde hair, while Sharpay received her brown locks from the gene pool. But, it was like a medium brown, definitely not like my weird color, so dark brown, it could be considered black.

The rest of the group consisted of Kelsi Nielson, a shy girl with auburn hair, glasses, and a talent for music. She was Ryan's girlfriend of half a year. Then, there was Taylor McKessie, my best friend since fourth grade, known for her intelligence, ability to speak her mind, and variety of colorful headbands. Jason Cross, another member of the basketball team, and one of the funniest, and sweetest guys I know. Richelle Ma has all the news on the hottest Asian dramas and Asian boy bands, although, none of us are into that kind of stuff, we let her ramble on because she wouldn't be Richelle without her Asian-ness. Her newest obsession is Autumn's Concerto, some Taiwanese drama or something like that. And lastly, there's Isaac Han, first chair in East Middle's violin section of orchestra, Richelle's boyfriend, and music composer, like Kelsi.

We're an odd bunch of people that you wouldn't expect to be close. Somehow, we are though. In the end, even though I can't bring food without it disappearing somewhere in the group, they keep me sane and I definitely love them for it.

"Alright, let's go before orientation starts without us!" Taylor suggested as the rest of us nodded in agreement.

The ten of us walked towards the gymnasium, and the eight freshman of our group found seats towards the middle of the bleachers, close enough to hear, but not so close that we'd have people stepping on us trying to get up higher.

In the next ten minutes, the bleachers were packed with freshman, all awaiting the start of orientation. It was then I turned my head and saw him.

Him. The cocky bastard who stole my first kiss not an hour earlier.

"Damn, he's here." I muttered under my breath.

"Who?" Taylor asked.

I described him. "That guy wearing Aviators, and walking towards all the link crew people on the other side of the gym. Shaggy brown hair, white Nikes, you can't miss him."

She couldn't respond because Mr. Matsui, the principal started to speak.

"What team?" he said into the mike, intending for us to follow the school's chant.

"Wildcats!" we screamed back.

"What team?"

"Wildcats!"

"Wildcats." Mr. Matsui repeated.

"Get your head in the game!" The class of 2013, Link Crew Leaders, and faculty exclaimed in unison.

"Welcome, class of 2013, to your freshman orientation. In my mind, there are three kinds of people in high school. As I explain, please think of which category you belong in."

Kuya Sean and some chick walked up to Mr. Matsui.

"There are people like Sean Montez. He's the captain of the football team, maintains a 3.6 average, and takes advantage of all the opportunities East High provides."

Sean winked and with his "Montez Charm" probably managed to make a couple girls in the audience swoon. He calls it his Montez Charm, but I call it a huge ass ego.

"There are people like Audrey Marines. She's on the volleyball team, homecoming committee and when there's an event to be planned, you can always find her right there, helping out. These two students get involved, they're the ones you see front and center because they choose to be there"

Exactly, I would see my brothers front and center, they crave attention, but not in a bad way.

Mr. Matsui spoke once more. "Can we have ten volunteers from the audience? Five boys and five girls?"

Of the five boys, I only knew one of them. He was this guy who always got in trouble in English last year.

For the girls, I somehow ended up down there when I didn't even volunteer. Sean's fault no doubt. At least, I knew one girl, Andrea. I wasn't completely alone in this weird activity.

Audrey had a mike and turned it on. "For this activity, we'll be hugging to pop balloons. When Mr. Matsui blows his whistle, one guy at a time will run towards me and we'll hug until the balloon pops. Girls, you'll be running towards Sean."

"Yuck." I stuck out my tongue at Sean, like I would want close body contact with my brother.

We lined ourselves up and I found myself the first one in line. The whistle blew and I charged towards my brother. I could try to tackle him to break the balloon faster.

"Kuya, you need better smelling cologne."

"I love you too baby sister." He smirked as we popped our balloon and I ran to the back of the line.

In the end, we won and Mr. Matsui turned his mike on again.

"There are people like you in the bleachers who watch the activities without quite getting involved. And, then there are people who don't care, letting their lives flash before them. They go without even watching or getting involved in what their high school has to offer. During your four years here, you have a choice on who you want to be."

I found myself back with my group of friends. Mr. Matsui was definitely better at speeches than our middle school principal. Matsui's speech was brief and meaningful. The other speech, like from promotion, was a load of bullshit that just wouldn't end.

"So, the first row, please come down and get your schedule and name tag. The number on your name tag corresponds with a number on the wall. The two people under that number are your link crew leaders."

Soon, our row was called and I picked up my schedule.

The little half sheet of paper read:

**Gabriella Mae Montez**

Period 1: Japanese ½ – Tanaka  
Period 2: World Geography – Potter  
Period 3: English – Brooke  
Period 4: PE – Willow  
Period 5: Biology Acc – Loera  
Period 6: Geometry Acc – Shinee

I got Link Crew Leaders 43, so did Isaac, and just my luck, Mr. Aviator-and-White-Nikes was my Link Crew leader. In a moment's time, there were seven of us total.

Link Crew leaders were supposed to have something that distinguishes them from the rest of the other groups, like hats, whistles or something.

Mr. Aviator gave us each superman capes and led us out of the gym.

"We're supposed to go to room 401, right?" the girl questioned.

"Oh, I don't know, read the paper in your hands." Isaac muttered as I laughed quietly.

"Yeah, that's what the paper says." He replied.

"Let me see your schedule." Isaac said as he grabbed it out of my hands.

I looked over his shoulder and compared as well.

"English, PE, and Geometry, not bad, at least I know someone." I declared as I snatched my schedule back.

In the next few seconds, we found ourselves in room 401, organizing the desks so we could sit in a circle in the middle.

"Let's start by introducing ourselves. Say your name and something about yourself, it doesn't have to be personal, okay?" the girl explained, like we were five or something.

She continued. "I'm Vanessa Song, a senior, and I love The Notebook."

In my mind, I classified her as one of those typical sappy girls, who loved romance, and cried while eating ice cream.

Mr. Aviator was next. "I'm Troy Bolton, junior, and I think the girl wearing blue and black over there looks pretty cute right now."

He winked. I gagged. Isaac laughed.

The other three freshmen were Annabelle Moroz, Stephan Vaseli, and Andrew Chavez. I didn't really pay attention to what they were saying. It's not that I was trying to be rude or whatever, but at least I caught their names.

"Hi, I'm Gabriella Montez, call me Gabrielle, freshman, and I hate when people don't care about how what they do affects others."

Clearly, I was talking about Bolton.

"I'm Isaac Han, freshman, and I think Elle needs to share her food."

"Does anyone have any questions before we start the tour?" Troy asked.

We shook our heads no and everyone stood up to follow our Link Crew leaders out.

"This is the gym, and the locker rooms are to the left. Girls' locker room up the left side of the ramp, boys up the right. You only need to take PE for two years, unless you don't pass the fitness test. If you don't pass, you have to take Fitness for Life until you do pass it." Vanessa explained.

As Vanessa was explaining everything, Troy was silent. After a few minutes, he was standing next to me, and I was speeding up.

Isaac followed my pace, and so did Troy.

"Why are you ignoring me?" he questioned.

"You play with girl's hearts, and you kiss people you don't even know. Look, don't take it personally, but I don't want to associate with people like you." I paused. "Then again, just take it personally. My words should sink into your thick-headed skull."

"You know him?" Isaac mouthed.

I shuddered in response and replied "Unfortunately."

"Who says I'd play with your heart?"

I kept my voice low so Isaac couldn't hear me. "I didn't know you for three minutes, you kissed me. You broke up with Serena after not being with her for a day. You were with her to steal her kiss, and you've done it. You've messed with her feelings, and made her believe you actually liked her. Sorry Bolton, I'm not giving you that opportunity with me. Mess with me, and you **will** have all the Montez's against you."

"Are you so sure of that Gabriella?"

"It's Gabrielle." I replied icily and grabbed Isaac so we could walk away from him.

During the tour, we walked towards the library to pick up our textbooks.

Fuck, five textbooks, they didn't even fit all the way in my backpack. I put Japanese, English, and World Geography in my backpack and carried Geometry and Biology in my arms.

"God, why did we have to pick up textbooks first, I'll be sore and sweaty by the time orientation is over." Annabelle complained.

"I know, so fucking heavy." Andrew agreed.

After picking up our textbooks, Vanessa led us to the dance studio where we would be taking our yearbook and student I.D pictures.

My brothers did their touring together, so it wasn't too much of a surprise when I saw their two groups in the dance studio with us.

"Save me!" I yelled at my brothers.

They threw questioning glances as they noticed Troy was my Link Crew leader. Then, even though my intention was very much noticeable, I walked over to my brothers' groups.

"She is supposed to be with us!" Vanessa exclaimed when she saw me walk over.

"Montez charm." I whispered as my brothers used a little bit of flirting to keep me with them.

Take that Troy Bolton.

After pictures, buying PE clothes, and all that stuff, I was sitting back in the bleachers with the rest of the freshman class.

"Education is like money," Matsui held up a dollar. "small amounts like this don't seem like much."

He ripped the dollar and there really wasn't much of a reaction.

"Then, after a period of time, you get more money, like this $20 bill. But, if you choose to throw away your education, it's like choosing to rip all of your money up."

Mr. Matsui then prepared to rip up the $20 when my brother came sprinting towards him screaming "NO, you can buy food with that money!"

Matsui stopped ripping the money and gave it to my brothers as if it were nothing. And to him, it probably wasn't that much compared to what he made a month or year.

Then, after a few more words, the last part of orientation came to an end. We were dismissed by rows again, and I said my goodbyes to my friends as I walked towards my Michael's car.

There would be time for comparing schedules and being nervous about the upcoming school year later. For now, I had more important things on my mind.

"How was orientation freshman?" Sean questioned.

"Now you're all grown up, aren't you freshman?" Michael added.

Freshman. They'll never let me forget it.


	2. Who He Is

**Author's Note: **I apologize to anyone who can actually speak Japanese. I'm taking it this year, and eh, my accent isn't too great.

And, also, the reviews just made me smile. It feels nice knowing someone kinda sorta likes my work, you know?

-

"Gaburiera Montezu?" My Japanese teacher called out for attendance.

"Ms. Tanaka, even though my given name is Gabriella, please, I prefer Gabrielle." I corrected.

"Hai, Gaburieru."

"Close enough." I muttered under my breath as a few people around me smiled, out of their pity I would assume.

Today, it was the actual first day of East High, exactly a week from orientation. It really isn't that exciting to me. As far as I'm concerned, everyone from freshman to sophomore to junior to senior has some reasons to feel badass this school year.

There were the freshman. Class of 2013. We're out of middle school, whoop. It doesn't matter that we're the lowest of the low at this school. It doesn't matter that we don't have our own table. It doesn't matter that we're the shortest and we match all our outfits from head to toe. No, all that matters is that we're out of middle school. That's why we think we're badass.

There were the sophomores. Class of 2012. They aren't freshman anymore. They aren't constantly being dissed about the little things, and they're finally considered upperclassman. They know their campus, and don't have a huge backpack or map glued permanently to their hands. Sophomores, they have their own tables and hangout spots. They aren't the clueless freshman they were last year.

There were the juniors. Class of 2011. They're one year away from being kings and queens of the school. They're finally able to drive, no more bus, or embarrassing parents dropping them off or picking them up. They have second priority to everything, and they're definitely ahead of us freshman, and those sophomores. Slowly, they're getting there. They're to the point where it's okay to talk to seniors without looking lame. They are so much closer to being top.

And then, there were the seniors. Class of 2010. They own the school, without a doubt. After three long years, they're finally at the top. They've matured a lot since freshman year, and they definitely have all of the priorities. Seniors have free periods. They can ditch class without being noticed too much. They can drive and leave campus during school hours. They're almost legal, and so close to sweet freedom.

"Gaburieru?" Tanaka Sensei called out.

"Hm, what?" I questioned back.

"Please pay attention to the syllabus while I go over it. Can you please read the section where I stopped?"

"I can't." I responded as I furiously glanced over the paper.

"Why not?"

I blushed slightly. "I don't know where we are."

Ms. Tanaka raised her eyebrows, clearly intending for me to pay more attention as she resumed reading whichever part she was on.

In Japanese, the only person I considered close enough to start a conversation with was Taylor. The rest of the faces in the room, they only had vaguely familiar names to me. And others were faces I would soon recognize as the school year progressed.

"Taylor, psst," I whispered. "Which part of the syllabus is she actually going over?"

"She's reviewing her scholarship grading system. Right now, she's reading over the expectations for a B average, and then she'll go over citizenship grading." Taylor responded, her eyes glued to the paper as if the black print would disappear if she looked away for a fraction of a second.

The expectations for a 4, or A, were standard, not exceptionally hard, or effortless. So, I could slack a little bit, but if I score well on tests/projects, I could still maintain an A.

"I'll give you a little free time before the bell rings. Have your parents review, and sign this syllabus for five points tomorrow. This week's schedule is Full Menu, all your classes, for Monday and Tuesday, B-day, A-day, and then Pro-hour." Ms. Tanaka explained as I placed the syllabus in my bag.

"What the fuck Taylor, why do our 4, 5, 6 classes come before our 1, 2, 3 classes? It just makes everything seem so much more confusing, I'll be likely to forget!" I exclaimed, quietly, so our teacher couldn't hear my slight use of profanity.

"We'll never know, and we can't protest the schedule hun, so we'll just have to deal with it. And, let me see your schedule, I didn't get to see what classes we had together."

"Here, take it, compare." I replied as I passed her the half sheet of paper, and waited for a minute or so for her to compare.

She looked back and forth before she handed it back to me. "Elle, we only have two classes together."

In 8th grade, we somehow ended up with almost every class together. The only differences were our elective and PE periods were switched. She took some advisory class, and I was part of that sexy yearbook.

"And those classes are?" I questioned as she passed my schedule back to me.

"First and last period. Japanese, and Geometry."

"Well, Tay, I'll be seeing you every day." I responded.

"Wait, no. I didn't mean it like that!" I added after a quick afterthought.

"Elle, what are you talking about?" she questioned.

"Don't worry about it, I don't even know myself."

I couldn't manage to suppress the laugh that escaped my throat at the awkward silence that ensued afterwards.

Well, somewhat awkward, nothing major.

"Hi," I'm Gabriel." The boy next to us said.

"I'm Gabrielle, as you've probably figured out from Ms. Tanaka's mispronunciation, and that's Taylor."

"Gabrielle, Gabriel." Taylor responded with a slight laugh.

At that moment, the bell rang, dismissing us to second period, where Taylor and I walked our respective directions.

Until I got to know anyone whose classroom was relatively close to my second period, I would have to walk alone. It felt kind of weird.

As I pondered walking alone, he appeared, and I decided walking alone was better after all.

"Allow me walk you to class?" Troy Bolton questioned.

"No. I can walk myself to class. I'm perfectly capable of finding it on my own. I'm not five."

"It's your call, I don't really care about being late, and I'll like to get to know you better."

Why was he suddenly trying to be all nice? Is he like bi-polar or something?

"Bolton, people like you, I don't want to waste any of my time on. I'm not concerned if that's somewhat offensive to you. Honestly, I'd rather just tell you the truth. "

He shrugged, and didn't respond. I took it as his that he was okay with what I said. He wouldn't walk me to class, or ever for that matter.

I continued towards Potter's Geography class as Troy disappeared in the crowd –not that I cared or anything. I had no reason to care about a bastard like him.

"Wow, he's pretty cute!" a voice gushed from the crowd.

"Who?" her friend asked, she clearly searching for this cute boy.

"The one with shaggy brown hair and blue eyes."

Gag me now, please.

I continued to Potter's class, and was greeted by Sharpay, Richelle and Kelsi. Not bad, I could actually start liking this class. More than two-fifths of our "group" was in it after all.

"Alright, who'd like to go over the World Geography syllabus?" Mr. Potter inquired in a voice that seemed bored, unenthusiastic and sounded nasal.

The class was silent, none of us knew what kind of answer Mr. Potter would want to expect.

"Just kidding," Potter laughed, and then started talking in a more enthusiastic voice. "I don't sound like that, and I think you'll get plenty of things to take home and get your parents to sign. I'll make it one less thing to sign, and we'll focus on learning everyone's names today. Can everyone please stand in a circle?"

We stood up, walked to the borderlines of the room, and created as best a circle as we could. I was between Shar and Richelle, and was waiting for further instruction.

"We'll be playing the Name Game." Mr. Potter started as he went between Kelsi and Richelle. "The rules are simple; we'll be starting with this Asian girl, no racial intended, and making our way around the room."

Richelle shrugged, and said her name. "Hi, I'm Richelle."

"You," our teacher explained. "Have the easiest job; all you have to do is say your name. Your friend over here," he gestured to Kelsi. "Has the hardest job. She has to say your name, and everyone else's."

"I'm Gabriella, and this is Richelle."

"I'm Sharpay, and that's Gabriella and Richelle."

The game progressed onward, with a few profanities being muttered because of blanking out someone's name, until it was just Kelsi left.

"Good luck, you got this." Richelle whispered, and I agreed. "You do Kelsi, come on."

"I'm Kelsi, and that's Marcus, Steven, Nicole, Lauren, Tiffani, CJ, Amanda, Erin, Aaron, Michael, Savannah, James, Martin, Roy, Patrisha, Sophia, Jenny, Eric, Lorraine, Ren, Ariel, Javier," she paused as she pondered the next person's name, and then started again as if there never was a blank in her thoughts. "Judy, May, Alex, Jacob, John, Kevin, Derek, Sharpay, and Gabriella."

I clapped, and mad props to Kelsi. She managed to say everyone's names, when I can't even remember anyone except Troy and of course, Isaac from my original Link Crew orientation group.

"Now that we got everyone's names, try to remember the faces that match those names. These are your fellow classmates for the school year, give or take a few transfers, and I won't have a disruptive classroom. Can everyone pick a seat now? I'll be passing around a piece of paper, add your name to the desk that corresponds to where you are sitting. This will be your assigned seat for the grading period, unless the class does something to lose that privilege."

Shar grabbed my arm and chose the seats closest to the door, a fast "escape," she claims anyways.

When the piece of paper came to us, I had just barely written my name in before we were dismissed to a 10-minute nutrition break before 3rd period.

"God, all the freshmen are the same from East Middle, I swear!" Shar practically screeched as we quickly assembled with the rest of the group.

Horny hallway.

I swear, that's where we all met up, and ugh. There are people making out from us fucking two feet away for goodness sake!

"What did you expect dear?" Taylor began. "East Middle, East High. Of course, majority of these kiddos are going to be the same as last year. We're all just transitioning up."

"But seriously, I expected more cute boys. The upperclassmen hate our asses, so I have to look in freshman class. But, everyone's the same, so boo to class of 2013." Shar responded.

"Is that all you care about, cute boys?" Richelle said with a laugh.

"You got me, don't worry about it." Isaac replied as he put his arm around her waist.

"We need to meet more guys like Isaac. Athletic, talented, and most importantly: chill with our group. Right?" Taylor added.

"Yeah." The rest of us girls, minus Kelsi, agreed.

"Liking high school baby sis?" Sean teased as Michael arrived with him.

"I'm getting there, freshman are low. Real low." I answered.

"No shit. Come on Elle, bring your group and chill with us, we don't need you being scared." Kuya Michael added.

"Scared, of what?"

"Oh, you know. Troy Bolton coming towards you, the upperclassmen being dicks to our baby sister, and the fact that you guys are hanging out in this hallway. People swap spit two feet away from you guys, and that really isn't disgusting you at this point?" Kuya replied.

"Tell me you have cute friends, my eyes are burning from this fat guy making out with his girlfriend. He looks like he's going to suck her face off or something." Sharpay butted in, agreeing to my brothers' request without even saying so.

"Haha, f'reals. Sure hanging out with freshman won't bring your rep down?" Chad added.

"Dude, you're hanging out with freshmen, and you don't even have a rep around school, I would know if you did." I butted in, owning Chad in the process.

"Alright, let's go. Anywhere is better than here, right?" Richelle said.

Then, the bell rang.

"Find us after 4th period." Sean said as he and Michael walked to their next class.

They honestly must have rigged the school system or something.

How else would they get so many classes together?

"Yo Elle, let's get going. I heard Brooke is strict." Isaac said as we walked towards English.

"Strict? Please, not even. I heard she never stops smiling. She could be yelling at you, but that smile will be plastered to her face as her angry words seep out. Over the past year, Ryan never stopped complaining about her."

We made in into the classroom and chose seats next to each other. No one close to us was in the group, but there were a few acquaintances.

"There's that smile." Isaac muttered as Ms. Brooke appeared, as though she just came through the wall.

"Hello freshmen! Welcome to English 9, I'll be your teacher, Ms. Brooke."

"Hi." "Hello." "Ugh" were some of the responses our class muttered back.

We really were a rather enthusiastic bunch, now weren't we?

Brooke's class went by uneventful, her infamous smile and boring voice made it difficult to just focus on her words.

Her smile was just plain creepy. Her voice, just made you want to crash your head to the desk for a nap.

Soon, I found myself counting the cracks in the ground, with Isaac making sure I didn't trip on the way to PE.

"Elle, I see Troy." Isaac whispered.

I lifted my head up and began looking around, left, and right, then behind me. "Where is he?" I questioned, uninterested.

"Two seconds away." He pointed forward slightly and the image of Troy was just, there.

"PE?" my ex-Link Crew leader asked.

"Why do you care?" I responded, not wanting to even converse with him.

I really wasn't a sassy person or someone who held a grudge easily. I really wasn't. But, this boy there was something about him that made me feel so pissed off every time we were within sight of each other.

"I'm going there too." He responded simply.

"Bolton," Isaac said. "You're a junior. Unless you failed, which seems unlikely with your status, you shouldn't have PE."

"His status?" I asked.

"Didn't you know he's the co-captain of the basketball team?" Isaac answered in disbelief.

"No, I never knew. Kuya Michael told me that he wasn't the only captain, but he never told me who the other co-captain was.

"Good, you know now." Bolton responded with a wink.

"You know what else I know? You're just trying to make yourself seem wonderful in my eyes after what you did orientation. No, it won't work."

Isaac looked at me with a questioning glance.

I didn't tell the group what happened between me and this bastard. I don't want them worrying or anything like that, because honestly, this guy isn't even worth it.

"You know what you don't know?" Troy asked, following my wording. "That I did pass the fitness test, and finished my two years of PE. But, I'm a student aid, and I'm assisting Coach Willow."

"What are you, fucking stalking me or something? First, I ended up in your Link Crew group, and now you're the student aid for one of my classes?" I responded, as calmly as I possibly could.

On the inside though, I was fuming. How dare he? How dare he always find ways into my life when I try so desperately to block him out of it?

"Come on Elle, I know you're upset. Vent your anger on running, we're supposed to run a mile or something so the Willow gets an idea of how fit we are." Isaac advised as we walked our separate ways into the locker room to change.

"Hey Elle, what's up?" one of my locker row friends questioned.

"Nothing much. There's just this bastard finding every possible way to interfere with my life." I replied.

"If you ask me, it seems like you like him." Andrea responded.

"No, I would never like a fucking bastard like him!" I snapped.

"Sorry." I added a second afterwards, I was a little bit harsh to her after all.

"Vent your anger on running Elle, you'll feel so much better afterwards."

I smiled; it seemed everyone had the same advice today. Alright, I would follow it.

After suiting up, Andrea and I went to find Isaac, and the rest of our PE class.

Everyone was seated and a tall, guy with a weird beard was walking towards the front of our class.

"I'm Coach Willow. Today, all we'll be doing is running a mile to test your fitness and determine how hard you'll be running during the school year. Do your best now, and we'll focus less on running and more on other fitness activities."

Then, Bolton walked towards the front.

"Hi, I'm Troy Bolton, and I'm Willow's student aid. The deal is, any girl who runs faster than me will be lucky enough to win a date." He flirted to our class, Willow not seeming to care.

That's it, I'm not venting my anger on running, and I'll walk the whole damn mile.

"No, I'm joking. Anyone who runs faster than me today will be recommended for Cross Country, and get out of next class's running. So, everyone, try your best, okay?"

He seemed normal when he was talking to them. Not the flirt or bastard he seemed to be whenever he was with me. Sure, he flirted a little bit, but compared to usual, it really wasn't that much.

Coach Willow led a few stretches, and then we were walking to the track.

"Four laps around the track. Your goal is to get under twelve minutes."

The whistle blew.

Was he serious about a twelve minute mile? Willow was rather generous.

"Even if you run slower than me, I'll still give you that date." Troy smirked as he ran effortlessly next to me.

"Nah, I'll pass. And, I doubt I'll be running slower than you. You'll see, Bolton." I replied as the two of us started gaining ground on the less-athletic people.

"You look like one of those girls who isn't too fit Montez, but yet, you're so confident you'll beat me."

A few people, included Isaac, began to pass the two of us, but I knew if I could just keep a constant pace, I would be ahead of some of them in a couple minutes time.

It was my turn to smirk. Running, it's always been some kind of escape for me. The harder I ran, the calmer I felt. "Let your running do the talking." I said softly as I sped up and started a faster pace.

Each time he sped up, I sped up. Then, every time I sped up, he was there next to me as if there was never distance between us.

It came to the point where we had half a mile left.

As we ran in silence, one could hear our footsteps pounding the track in unison, and our breathing was in sync.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

At that point, the two of us managed three laps, and I preparing to sprint the last one by increasing my speed slightly.

I took off, and let the breeze ruffle my hair, it felt exhilarating.

Running was definitely my equivalent to a significant other. It made my heart beat faster, my cheeks flush red, and my mind free of all worries.

"Good job Montez, I didn't expect you to run like this." Troy said as he increased his speed as I increased mine.

"Be surprised." I replied as he kept pace with me and we finished the last lap together.

"6:51, Bolton, what happened to your time? You're off by at least a full minute from the last time I timed you." Willow stated.

So, he stayed with me. Why?

"I guess I have to start running a little more Coach. No worries, I'll be back to my regular mile times after a few more runs." He reassured.

"Why?" I questioned.

He smiled slightly and responded with a question of his own. "What?"

I looked at him in disbelief. Clearly, he knew what I was asking. "Why would you run slower when you could obviously beat me?" I restated.

Troy shrugged. "I know what I'm capable of, but this is actually the first time that you were acting civil and not about to slit my throat." He explained.

"That's it? You're willing to make it seem like you're out of shape just so I would talk to you without sarcasm or insults? Don't expect it often, because this is going to be one of the first and last times, believe me."

I spotted Isaac talking to Andrea, and began walking towards them. I ignored Troy's calls to turn around and talk to him.

He didn't chase after me, whatever; it's not that I expected him to either.

"What'd you get?" Andrea questioned, referring to my mile time.

"6:51, what'd you get?"

"Damn Elle, you're good. 8:32." Andrea replied.

"What about you Isaac?"

"6:01, it's only fifty seconds." Isaac replied.

"You say I'm good, look at Isaac's time!" I exclaimed as Willow dismissed us back to the locker rooms to change.

"For a girl, you know you're pretty good." Isaac assured.

I laughed at his statement. Just because I was a girl? Really now? "I'll get better." I promised. "Running is my drug, once I've started, I have to keep going, and going. It's one of the only things that keep me calm and isolated from this crazy reality."

I waved and stepped into the girls' locker room with Andrea. "See you when I'm changed. Let's find the group, then my brothers."

"Sure." I heard him call out.

As I changed, Andrea kept talking. I had no idea what she was saying because my mind was on other things. I was still thinking about how Troy would actually do that, just so I would be different around him.

What was with this boy? He's constantly occupying my thoughts, and no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to remove him.

I don't like him. Hell to the no. But, he still won't leave my mind.

"Hey Elle." Isaac called out as I walked out of the locker room.

The two of us walked in silence as we went to meet up with the rest of the group. We ended up in Horny Hallway once again.

Disgusting.

I turned my head and faced my body so I wouldn't be angled towards those making out. "Come on, let's find my Kuyas! I feel like I can't have a normal conversation without just feeling awkward." I exclaimed, the rest of the group agreed.

"Kelsi, and Isaac are going to the orchestra room to work on compositions. Ry and I are going with them." Richelle said as the four of them smiled and waved as they walked away.

That left, Taylor, Jason, Chad, Shar and I to find my brothers.

It really wasn't too hard finding them though. They were one of the bigger groups, and they were basically in the center of the cafeteria.

"Elle, sit here, yeah?" Michael smiled.

Then, he turned towards his group of "popular" people. I wouldn't even try to memorize their names, because I wouldn't even be able to, I knew that much. "Everyone, freshman and Chad. Freshman, and Chad, everyone."

We expressed awkward hellos as the five of us settled into their group. I found myself within hearing distance of where Troy and his friend were sitting.

"Have you got a date with her yet?" his friend questioned.

Troy raised his eyebrows, unknown to him that I was within hearing distance of this conversation. "Gabriella? Nah, not yet. I'm getting there man."

I scoffed, when will he realize that I prefer Gabrielle?

"You can't possibly get her to say yes to you. Even if you're Troy Bolton, it's obvious she hates your guts. Then, she's got Sean, Michael, and Jasmin watching over her. You can't get close that chick."

"Wait for it Zeke. Within a week, I'll have a date with her. She won't know what hit her. I'll expose her attitude, the mask she conceals so cleverly, and her true intentions for being such an ass to me."

_I_ was an ass to him? Look buddy, you better reverse the roles. You're the ass, not me!

"And what are her true intentions?" Zeke asked.

"I'm not sure yet, but for her to mess with me when I was settling things with Serena? Besides, all it takes is a little sweet talking. She really isn't that pretty, but all I have to do is keep sucking up to her and waiting patiently until an opportunity presents itself."

That stung. Even if I didn't want to, I was actually starting to believe his words.

But, in the end, they're false. They're fake just like the personality and kindness he was pretending to show to me.

Can my brothers hear what he's saying? No, they can't. If they did, I know something would have been done.

"Do that, and the usual bet is up. I heard so many guys have wanted to ask her out, but her brothers found out and put a stop to that."

Really now? I would much rather go out with some other guy, at this point, anyone sounds better than him.

I always knew he was a bastard.

"Here's the thing Mr. Baylor. I'm not like those other guys you know. I always win, and you're witness to that."

I couldn't take listening to their conversation anymore, I stormed away from the table and decided I would walk around, just to cool off my anger a little.

Michael, Sean, Shar, Jason, Chad and Taylor saw me leave. I heard their protests. I saw their protests. But, I ignored it. I'd think of something to tell them later.

For now, Bolton was absolutely infuriating. I couldn't stand him. UGH.

I found myself at the track, and I began running, faster and faster.

By the time I was done, I was breathing heavily, but whatever. I waited a few more moments to collect my breath, and then waited for my mind to clear.

As the bell rang, I headed to fifth period.

Then, the bell rang again, and I headed to sixth period.

The rest of the school day, I couldn't even describe in detail. It all seemed to pass like a blur. I couldn't remember what happened if I wanted to.

It was like I was an airplane on autopilot. I kept on track and never deviated from paying attention in class.

The final bell rang, and I started walking towards Sean's car this time. They switch off once in a while to save on gas or something.

"No," I whispered to myself. "Troy Bolton won't get away with this."


	3. Date Set

**Author's Note: **At this point, I really wouldn't be too surprised if there weren't any readers. I've been terrible about updating, absolutely horrible at it. The first thousand words or so were written before I posted the last chapter, then I got lazy about updating .. ._.

It got to the point where I wanted to just stop because of volunteer work, grades and especially finals coming up. After finals finished, there was my birthday, then I got really sick after my birthday, and now it's that glorious Christmas/New Year's spirit.

Lovely, I'll try not to ramble and continue onwards, sorry for the late posting, and for not double checking this.

-

"If he thinks that he can fucking get away with this, he's got another thing coming!" I ranted to my cell phone, Shar being on the other side of the call. Like hell would I let my brothers find out what Troy Bolton was planning. Surely, if they knew, I wouldn't have anymore personal space because of their over-protectiveness and involvement. I love them, but I don't want to suffocate, I'm a growing girl who needs to be able to do shit herself. "He's the one flirting with me, not the other way around. So, what gives with him calling me cute one moment, and then suddenly saying I'm not even pretty?"

"Don't listen to him Elle, you're gorgeous, fabulous, and you are most definitely model material. Don't you dare let Bolton affect you like this. You know what? He's not even worth the rant that you keep spewing at me. He's not worth the time that you spend thinking about how much he pisses you off." she responded, trying to calm me down. Clearly, not even my best friend could calm me down now that I've exploded. Ugh.

That day passed in a blur, and my brothers, they assumed I was PMSing or something, so they didn't really question too much about why I left their lunch table so early. That was fine with me, I need my privacy after all. But, Sharpay Evans isn't the least bit like my older brothers. She likes to stay on top of whatever is happening in my life. She is after all my best friend, and she wouldn't let go until she knew. Obviously, she's known about this since day one, and it's amazing how she lets me ramble on and on about the subject when she knows every little detail. It has already been a week, and she's developed a calm attitude against my usual pissed off ranting one.

She's my vent system, f'sho, and fuck, if I didn't have her, Kuya Sean and Kuya Michael would probably think I was PMSing all day, everyday. Not that I would try to seem like I was PMSing all day, everyday, because it all happens somewhat naturally.

"What mask am I wearing Shar? What mask conceals my so-called true intentions? Fuck Troy Bolton!" I exclaimed. "I need a way to get back at him."

"You don't have a mask, unless you count those facial ones we use once in a while for wonderful rejuvenated skin."

"Pay, not helping! You know what I'm talking about this, please don't give me jokes to try to cool me down!"

"Oh god Elle, you are such a Montez! He hasn't done anything yet, right? So, why don't you wait until he actual starts doing something before you blow your top thinking of how to counter a nonexistent move?"

I smirked. "No, he hasn't, I have to start being strategic now, if might be too late if I let him get too far ahead when I haven't done anything." I'm being dramatic, sue me, and my new found love in Richelle's adorable Asian dramas. "And yes, I am a Montez, it is my last name after all. You just gotta be a Montez to get what's up."

Aside from Jasmin, the rest of us play along with situations. Revenge is a dish best served hot, but for Troy Bolton's sake, I'll let it cool down. At the peak of his supposedly brilliant plan, I'll expose him. If he thinks he'll come on top, he's wrong. Because, I know it's gonna be Gabrielle Mae Montez for the fucking win.

Sharpay sighed. Whatever, she knows I'm going to go through with this. I didn't want to get involved with him, but he thrust himself into my life. Now, he's thrown a plan into it, and that's NOT okay with me.

"What are you going to do Elle? It's not like you have the courage to break his heart before he breaks your's. You might bitch out at anyone who gets in your way on your bad days, but I know you. You've got a conscious, and your conscious wouldn't let you do that kind of thing. We all know what it's like to suffer through heartbreak, and it's pretty damn cruel if you ask me." Sharpay reasoned.

"Oh," I contemplated. I was going to let him continue on with his plan, let him believe I was going to fall for all of his lies. Then, I would have just got my brothers to intervene, my older brothers could own his ass anyways. At least I would have got some freedom before they got involved, put an end to it, and kept me on watch for just a little while. What the hell am I talking about? My plan was stupid, her's is brilliant! "Shar, I know you think I won't go through with it, but I feel like I have to after you suggested it. Don't take it the wrong way, but I feel like it's going to be the one perfect way to get back at Bolton. I want to teach him that you can't treat a girl like this, especially not one like me, who won't just let everything play itself out. I don't have a mask, or whatever else he thinks he's going to uncover. I just want to lead a decent life, and manage my four years in high school peacefully. I'm not up for his bull, besides, I'm not up for giving him his lowly satisfaction. I'll lead him into thinking that he's got the upper hand, but I'll break up with him the moment he decides to let the so-called romance get serious."

Besides, there's zero chance that I could possibly fall in love with him. The chances of that happening are like the chances of losing everything in Monopoly if you play to the best of your ability. If you're brilliant at playing, of course, the chances of you losing are very low. Just like the chances of me falling in love with him.

I'm not saying it's not a possibility, I'm not gonna say I haven't liked people I never wanted to like in the first place. But, the chances of me falling in love with him? It's like me losing in Monopoly, that's my game. I don't lose. I play it.

"I'm hanging up, if I listen to you anymore, I swear you might talk yourself into believing that murdering him is the perfect solution. Good luck Elle, and get a good night's sleep, okay? I want to see your pretty face tomorrow, not some grumpy bitch with bags, alright? I love you Gabrielle Mae Montez!" she added as she hung up, and left me to think more about what I would do.

Does he deserve it? Yes. After moments of silence, I tried to let my thoughts of him push him out of my mind. But, damn him, it's as if he's taking a permanent residence inside of my mind.

No, no no. I'm really wasting too much time thinking about him. Why can't you just leave me alone Bolton? Your face haunts me in person, your face haunts my inner thoughts. Why?

The silence and darkness began to lull me into a peaceful slumber. My final thoughts? They were of Troy Bolton. Real shocker there. I mean that in the most sarcastic way imaginable, of course.

"ELLE! ELLE! ELLE! ELLE!" I heard a voice scream as I felt pressure on my shoulders.

"You have two seconds to get your hands off of me before I start kicking." I whispered, my voice cracking from lack of use for the past few hours.

"Why good morning Elle dearest. Aren't you a bowl of sunshine?" another voice added.

Great, always my brothers in my room. I do have an alarm, so why do they insist on waking me up ten minutes before it every single day? My alarm functions properly, never failing to ring, I swear.

"I have an alarm." I stated.

Sean scoffed, I think it was Sean anyways. "You take forever to get ready in the morning anyways. Be happy we think of waking you up to give you the extra ten minutes."

Michael added on. "We aren't even dressed yet, so pick our your clothes, and we're gonna get ready. Rise and shine dear freshman!"

"Shut up, I'm awake. You can leave now, kay, thanks, bye!" I muttered as I kicked upward, pushing my blankets off in the process, and prepared to push my dear brothers out of my room before more teasing could occur. What's the use? I wouldn't be getting that much more sleep anyways.

It's a cycle on repeat twenty-five/eight. Even though that's not even remotely possible, I'm quite sure that is how all my school mornings go. Waking up by my rather perky brothers, getting called freshman, getting slightly bitched at, and finally bam! I'm awake, in one of the sleepiest and grumpiest moods, and I just have to deal with all of the morning loveliness, and get ready to face another day.

I picked out my outfit without much enthusiasm. As I opened my closet, I saw the shirt I wanted to wear for the day. Effortlessly, I reached for one of Kuya Sean's old button up shirts -I liked the pattern, it looked decent on me, and he outgrew it, so boo. Oh, and I grabbed a white tank top, I'd leave a few buttons on Kuya Sean's gray and white plaid button up down, but I wouldn't wanna expose anything under there. Of course, since it was still summer, I grabbed a pair of light blue denim cutoff shorts, a brown belt, and a simple silver chained necklace with the number '14' to complete it all. The number represented my birthday, December 14, and it's always been a lucky number to me.

As my eyes adjusted better to my surroundings, I realized, I'd still have to wait for my shower to warm up if I had to be the one to set it.

Brothers. Yes, of course, I could just ask whichever brother to set it.

"Yo, Kuya, turn on the shower, yeah?" I called out.

My alarm sounded at that moment. I knew it worked, and if I didn't run to shut if off now, it would ring every 5 minutes until it shut off. It's perfect for that extra five minutes of sleep I treasure in the morning, but it doesn't work when I'm already up, out of bed, and getting ready.

I heard Michael call down to Kuya Sean. "Sean, you set Elle's shower!"

"Fuck no, I'm already downstairs, you do it Michael!"

"Walk up the stairs, and just set it!"

At that point, I was irritated and racing towards me alarm before it stopped until the next five minutes. "Will one of you just set the water so I can shower without having to run to the side because I have to wait for the water to warm up?"

Oh yes! I turned that sucker off three seconds before its ringing stopped.

"Alright, alright," Kuya Michael sighed. "I'm setting it, I'm setting it. And you complain daily that we wake you up to early. Sorry Elle, we ain't Jasmin who manages to keep up with your morning attitude. She's got her a job booked up for the next couple weeks, and then she's gotta get back to school. So, would it kill you to just set your own damn water?"

"My eyes are still adjusting to the light." I had to use some kind of excuse for my brothers, mainly Michael, not to complain anymore. "Besides, I still have to check if I actually like my 'fit, and then change whatever so I do end up liking it, you know? Shouldn't you be nicer to me, your wonderful younger sister?" I questioned in one of my 'sweeter' voices.

"It's set, I'm going downstairs. Don't call out for anymore favors Gabriella."

I snorted, he was using my actual name just to make sure I would set my own shower next time. Really now? Is it that much of a hassle to waste a thirty seconds, a minute tops, for your baby sister? "Uh, dear brother, you know I prefer Gabrielle to Gabriella."

"I know," I heard him laugh. "Be ready to eat downstairs in half an hour, Sean's cooking." he called back as I heard his footsteps thump gently down the stairs.

"I love you too!" I yelled towards him as I took one final look in the mirror, deciding that my clothes did in fact look pretty good, I wouldn't need to change anything.

As predicted, the water in the bathroom was already hot. It was even starting to steam up the mirrors by the time I shut the door and locked it. I stuck my hand into the glass shower doors, turned the faucet down to make the water a little cooler, put the towel within reach, and stepped into my shower.

When I finished, I grabbed two towels. I used one to dry my body and the other to wrap my hair up so I could start changing into the clothes I'd picked earlier.

After changing, I sprayed some heat protector into my hair and turned my blow dryer on -singing Down by Jay Sean at the same time. Yes, I am a dork like that, but that song is just so catchy. _So baby don't worry, you are my only. You won't be lonely, even if the sky is falling down._

I swear, my brothers could probably hear me from the breakfast nook downstairs. Whatever, the blow drying is muffling some of the sound, besides it's part of the twenty-five/eight daily thang. I have a habit of saying, er thinking, the word thang as opposed to the word thing.

_Baby are you down, down, down, down, down_

When my hair was fully dried, I fixed it a little, but still left it in its natural curly state. Then, I reached for my make up, and put it on as I usually do. Not overbearing, or hardcore, just simple like I fix it for school.

"What's for breakfast?" I questioned as I opened the bathroom door, and began to descend the stairs to where my Kuyas were eating.

"Whatever you wanna eat, Sean's cooking anyways." Michael replied.

It's not that I can't cook and have to rely on my siblings to cook breakfast for me. I wish I could say that wasn't the case. But, the awful truth is that I burn anything that's not instant, microwavable, or premade to the point where you can't fuck up. But, in my defense, it's just that I'm always the last one to wake up, last one to get ready, and last to go downstairs. There would NOT be enough time to eat in the mornings, or anything to eat for that matter if I was the one cooking.

"Can I have waffles?"

"Sure," Kuya Sean responded. "I'll mix some batter up quick, want anything in them? Blueberries? Strawberries? Chocolate chips? Poison?" I glared at him, really now? "Just kidding about the poison Elle! Lighten up, take a joke, you're awake and looking rather pretty today."

Nice save.

"I'll let that go for the pretty comment." At least someone thinks I'm pretty, even if he's only saying that because of his joke earlier. "And Kuya, no thanks to anything inside my waffles. Plain ones are all I want."

"Kay, give me a couple minutes to get your breakfast on the table."

"Got your backpack ready for school?" Michael questioned.

I swear, my brothers are like second parents or something. Annoying as it gets when they do it, it's sweet even if I wouldn't willingly admit it to them.

"Mhm, it's been set since last night. You know me, I do everything but getting ready the night before so I won't forget anything in my morning grumpiness. I gotta keep up that 4.0, it's basically the only skill I got -if you could even consider it a skill."

Nerd status.

"Mom would be proud of you Elle."

"She would, and you have plenty of other skills. Don't go degrading yourself now." Sean agreed and added, true to his word, my waffles were in front of me in a few minutes time. I don't like anything on my waffles, I eat 'em straight, less mess with no syrup anyways.

"Haha, right. Let me eat in peace now, okay? We might end up late if I don't exactly hurry up." I told them as I began eating, more like shoving, the waffles into my mouth.

As my older brothers conversed about random topics, and laughed over things only the two of them would understand, I ate my delicious waffles. They really were delicious. Damn, why couldn't I inherit the Montez cooking gene? Everyone got it except me, bunch of lucky butts.

"I'm full, let's get going, yeah?" I said as I stuffed the last piece of yummy waffle into my mouth.

"Wanna use your car, or mine?" Kuya Michael asked.

"Eh, it seems like we always use your's," Sean started. "So, go ahead and start my car, alright?" Kuya Sean threw his keys, and of course, Kuya Michael caught them without missing a beat.

"I'll clear the table and wash the dishes." I volunteered as Kuya Michael walked out the door. Kuya Sean shrugged, and let me do as I stated I would. He would probably go grab his backpack or something.

Ten minutes later, I found myself in the backseat of Sean's car waiting for us to arrive at East High.

"Radio or iPod?" Michael asked from the passenger seat.

"Just use your iPod, the radio has crappy music in the morning." I called out with a slight laugh. "Play Down, yeah?"

"Weren't you just singing that when you were blow drying your hair?" Michael snickered. Oh, real mature Kuya.

"Fine, go ahead and play it." Sean added with a snicker of his own.

It's really not that funny that I was singing when I was doing my hair. Big whoop, you know?

"Thanks for listening to me sing this morning. I wasn't aware I had an audience."

I had to do something to try and keep my song choice in tact without them teasing me about this morning. I know they'll let go of it when we're out of the car, but really now? I like that song, especially the candlelight version. It really makes the song sound so much better.

"Can you play the candlelight version? It's better than the upbeat original." I added.

"Yeah, sure." Michael said as he scrolled through his songs to find my song choice.

"And Elle, I know it's been a week already, but what happened that day you sat at our lunch table? You just left without warning, and didn't bother to give us any sign that you were okay. I know you needed time to calm down, Sean knew you needed time to calm down. Sure, we don't have mom and Ate Jasmin's comforting skills, so we really wouldn't have been much help."

What is this? Therapy? Surely, they've discussed this before and feel the need to bring it up again.

As traumatic it is to me, I honestly don't want them to be involved.

"Don't worry about it, my stomach was hurting." I tried to pass a feeble lie.

They obviously didn't believe me, their faces showed it.

"Elle, you sure?" Kuya Sean pressed.

Shar's plan, well, my plan now, wouldn't exactly work if they got involved. It would bring me back to the issue of not having anymore freedom and them getting too involved. I'm being selfish when they want to care, but I've already got a plan in mind.

"Yeah, s'all good. Don't worry about it, it's a thing of the past." Past to everyone but me. I'm really thinking too much about Bolton. "Really, I'm fine, it's okay. I'm sorry for making you all worried."

"If you say so."

Luckily, Down began to play through the car speakers at that moment -saving us all from the awkward silence that would have happened next.

"I have football practice today, they're trying to start us as early as possible for the season. Do you guys want to wait for me? Or do you want to just go home, and I'll find a ride home later?" Sean questioned, changing the subject in the process.

"Eh, I'll wait for you, it's not like I got nothing better to do than watch a bunch of sweaty guys running around in their football uniforms." Kuya Michael responded. "No homo man, straight all the way!"

"I'll stay around I guess. I'll text the both of you if I get bored and manage to find a ride home, so don't worry if you don't see me, okay?" I answered.

"Okay then," Sean stated as we pulled into East High's student parking lot. We were relatively early, it was before the first bell, but not super early to the point where there were no cars in the lot. "we're here. Elle, you can leave now if you want, I see some of your friends standing over there in front of the school where all the other freshman are."

Funny, oh real funny.

"Whatever," I scoffed. "See you guys later, if not after his practice, then at home."

As I walked away from the car, I spotted Shar's noticeable blonde hair. Eventually, I did end up getting use to the color, it finally sunk in after all this time.

"Sharpay Evans!" I called out as I hugged her.

"Morning Elle, I'm gonna start calling you Mae now."

No one really calls me Mae, so I really have no idea where she's going with this.

"Why?" I questioned as I walked around the group and hugged who else was there -Richelle, Isaac, and Ryan.

"I feel like calling you something different, you know? I'll probably forget and start calling you Elle again, but whatever."

"Any particular reason why?" I inquired again.

"Nah, not really. But, are you really going to go through with what I said last night?" she questioned back to me.

"Shar, you know I am."

The bell rang, of course, it was 7:03. No freshman is really here that early in the morning. It's usually the sophomores who are the earliest, then the freshman because they don't have rides, and lastly, juniors and seniors all come at the last minute because they can drive and afford to be late.

The schedule around East High was weird. Rather than going to 1,2,3 classes on a Monday, we got to our 4,5,6 classes, which meant Willow's PE first thing in the morning. And, it meant Troy, first thing in the morning.

I've been avoiding him like the plague for the past week, but if he tried to talk to me today, I would probably let him, just because I finally have a counter plan to his.

"Yo, Richelle, Isaac, let's get going!" I said as I linked arms with Richelle and she linked her other arm to her boyfriend's.

Within the first week, she transferred to our PE class because she has some sort of sports practice after third period, and she would be tired by the time she got there. So, now she has morning PE, period four with the two of us, Andrea, and Troy.

"Troy's coming up behind us." Richelle whispered in my ear.

"Want us to walk a little faster?" Isaac added.

"You guys go on ahead, I want to talk to him." I responded as I shooed them away.

"Surprised you aren't with your friends." Troy said as he was 2 feet away from me.

Weird, I almost kind of missed his arrogant voice.

I retorted back to him. "Surprised you don't have any."

"What gives Gabriella? You're talking to me again after ignoring me for no reason."

"Gabrielle, Elle, Montez, Mae. Call me anything, except Gabriella, got it?" I answered back, softly. I didn't want to scare him away into thinking I was some sort of bitch before he could ask me out, and before I could break his heart.

I do sound like a cruel bitch. Wow, just wow.

"What if I call you my future girlfriend?" he flirted.

Ha, I'm not some cruel bitch after all. He's just a natural flirt, meaning he deserves it.

"Hey Troy!" I heard a couple more girls call out to him.

"Hey." he winked his crystal blue orbs at him.

I didn't notice how deep blue his eyes really were. But, I guess, I have got to start noticing the little things now that there isn't even six inches of space between the two of us.

"Do you even know their names?" I asked him, he must know their names, right?

"Honestly? I don't think I've met them before, so with that, I don't know their names."

"Then you are just some natural flirt, huh? With the ability to make girls just swoon at the mention of your name. A flirt, the kind that makes those girls wish you were this close to them as you are to me right now."

He looked at me straight in the eyes as we continued walking towards the general direction of the locker rooms. "Depends, do you like being this close to me? Do you want me to flirt with you?"

"You tell me." I flirted back as I walked into the locker room, found my locker, and dropped my backpack into it.

I set the bag that held my PE clothes onto the floor and started putting the combination into my small locker where I could get my PE shoes and more lotion for my legs.

"What happened back there?" Richelle asked.

"Oh," I gave her a small smile. "Nothing really, we just cleared up a misunderstanding I guess you can say." Then, I saw Andrea walk into the locker room. "Hey!" I called out.

She responded with a hello as I took my red PE shorts out of the bag with my PE clothes. "Montez" was written neatly across the white strip at the bottom of the right leg as I slipped them on, easily. I folded my denim shorts and placed them into my big locker where my backpack already was. I changed into my PE shirt, got some lotion onto my legs and waited for Richelle to get dressed.

"Why is it that you get in the locker room before me, yet you still take forever to get changed?" I asked her.

After Richelle transferred into our PE period, I really didn't talk to Andrea much. It's not that we weren't friends, we were. It's just that, I was closer to Richelle.

"You manage to talk at the same time you're changing. For some reason, or reasons, I can't do that. Chill, I'm done, aren't I?" Richelle answered as she put the lock on her big locker and looked straight at me.

"I give, I give. Come on, let's go to roll call." I laughed as we linked arms and walked out of the locker room.

I don't exactly know when it became a thing between our group to just link arms whenever we were walking. But, I guess since we've been doing it for years, it counts for something, haha.

As we sat down on our numbers, and waved hello to Isaac, Coach Willow came out to take attendance and tell us what we were going to do today.

"We're running a partner mile, but there's an odd number of people here today." Willow announced when attendance was done and over with. "This mile will count as a regular mile, so if the two of you run it fast, it'll definitely improve your grade if you aren't doing so good right now." He then turned his head to Troy. "Considering we have an odd number, would you mind running with someone from this class to even it all out?"

"Sure, I'll run with Montez."

Of course, he would. He runs fast though, so I don't really mind.

"I'll expect a great time then. She's the fastest girl in this class." Willow laughed as he dismissed everyone else to get partnered up.

Richelle and Isaac partnered together, Andrea and some other girl, and everyone else was partnering up.

"Who said I wanted to be partners with you?" I scoffed as he approached.

"Well, you're stuck with me now. After our talk this morning, I figured we were on civil terms, I guess I thought wrong."

"Since I'm stuck with you," I thought for a moment. "You should find something to make it up to me."

"Why don't I take you on a date today and bring you back before dinner?"

"Who said I wanted to go on a date with you?"

"Who said you didn't?"

Perfect, his plan was working, my plan was working.

"Fine, it's a date then. Now, I've got to get to the front where the first runners go. Willow said slowest are first, clearly, I'm not the fastest of the two of us." I answered as I began walking down the steps to where the rest of the first runners were.

"Why do you always do that to me?!" he yelled from the top of the stairs, intending for me to hear and to answer.

"Do what?" I yelled back.

"Run away." he stated as Willow blew the whistle and I started to let the exhilarating feeling kick in.


	4. Switching

**Author's Note:** Thank you to everyone that continued to review even though my lack of updates was really pushing it. This is longer than my other chapters, and I feel proud for getting it out sooner. Lol, enjoy!

oh & follow me on tumblr, yumkimchi ? (x

-

"I don't." I tried to respond back to him as the feeling kicked in, and I began pushing my body so it would go far beyond my usual limits to get my calming release. Faster is better, calmer.

I know that I may seem confusing to him, but I don't always run away. I'm not that much of a wimp that I have to run away from a guy, right? Him saying something like that just proves he really has no idea what I'm doing. Then again, I don't either, but I am aware that I am not running away though. I'm positive of that much.

Since I was considerably the fastest "slow" runner, I was ahead of a lot of girls and guys running with me, or rather, behind me. After a mere few steps, it irked me how a few of those suppose to run already stopped running. It was only half a mile, and to not have the stamina to complete it kind of surprised me for a moment.

I stopped thinking about the others, and I willed myself to go increase my speed, little by little. I found myself nearing the end of my first lap, and I felt pretty good about my current time for the distance I had run.

"You're at 1:26 Gabriella!" Willow called out. Oh fuck, I needed to speed up.

And how many times is he going to call me Gabriella when I've corrected him and told him to call me Gabrielle? He, and some nameless others can never seem to get it, it's one letter change, jeez!

As I go onto one of the rounded parts of the track, saw that I was clearly at least 3/4 of a lap ahead of the other runners and walkers. Regardless, I just just kept forcing my legs to take longer strides. I already knew that I would get a decent time -considering that I was speeding up with each step and Troy Bolton, the seemingly good guy who plans to mess with me, is my partner, and he just happens to be able to run a mile in just under six minutes.

I had only one more turn and a straight run 'til I would be back to where Troy was. All I had to do was 'tag' his hand, and I was free to stop breathing hard, and pushing myself to whatever limits I could manage.

"Come on Montez!" I was so close that I could hear the words of encouragement from my fellow classmates. I started sprinting, using what energy I was able to. I sprinted and felt my breathing become heavier, and the air became blurs of wind whooshing past me.

"Elle, you got this!" Troy called out towards me. Wait, since when did he call me Elle?

I closed the distance between me and to where Troy was standing, and it was probably the hardest 10 feet of my half mile. Everything in that 10 feet seemed to go in slow motion, a seemingly exaggerated moment. Whatever, I tried to shake it off, and finally, I was up to Troy.

I high-fived/tagged his hand, and he took off running without saying anything to me. And he says I'm the one who always runs away? Psh.

I walked up to Willow to check what time I got. "2:52, you should consider joining Cross Country."

"I'll think about it." I replied as I started walking towards the water fountain. Running is my release, but I don't think I can hold out doing super long runs for long periods of time. I'm more of a get-it-over-don't-think-about-it kind of runner. Running for competition, and training for it wasn't really my idea of sunshine.

In the time it took for me to drag my butt over to the fountain, Troy was finishing his first lap, and other runners were tagging their partners as they finished. I pressed the button and somewhat cold water squirted into my mouth. The taste, although not very good, was refreshing to my cotton-dry mouth at the moment. The run made my mouth dry, and my throat yearned for the taste of water.

"Aren't you slow today?" I heard a voice whisper into my ear as I still let the water flow into my mouth. God, I was really thirsty.

I turned around and found myself face to face with Troy's crystal blue orbs. Damn him and his ability to sneak up on me.

"What'd we get on the mile?" I questioned.

"Well," he paused and pushed the button on the water fountain next to me. He took a drink, and stood up once more to look straight at me. "I could tell you..." he started again.

"Wow Bolton, you're cool. First you're gonna tell me, and you get a drink of water. Then, you try to be all smooth, and make some long ass pause when you could have already told me the time by now. You're such a fucker."

I wasn't mad or anything, I was just making a point to him actually.

"Is that the way to talk to someone who helped you get a 4:58 mile time?" He questioned, in all seriously.

I screamed and hugged him. "Damn, that's really good!" I don't know why I hugged him, it was like an urge to I guess? I don't even know.

He hugged back. "See, that's how you talk to someone who helped you get a 4:58 mile!" he said, amusement laced in his words.

I removed my arms from him, it just felt really awkward. I don't even know what possessed me to do something like that when we weren't even on comfortable terms. Yeah, we were on talking terms, but we weren't friends, or in a relationship, yet. We would be in a relationship soon, I was sure of it, but, friendship, I know we will never be friends.

"Thanks for the most failed hug ever. You initiated it, and then you just let go out of no where!" he teased once I let go.

"Be happy you even got a hug." I replied as I walked back to where everyone else was -either almost done running or waiting for their partners to be done running.

He walked up next to me, keeping pace with my footsteps, he can always keep pace with me. "I was kidding Elle. Take a joke!"

I decided it would be best to change the conversation topic. Whatever he was talking about now? Of course, it would ensue an awkward silence at one point. "Where are you taking me today after school?"

"You'll see, no need to rush everything." Troy assured me.

"Well," I did want to know where we were going, to plan accordingly. God, I sound like some paranoid freaking checking what's happening every moment of every time I'm with him, or will be with him. "I just want to know. Would it kill you so much as to give me a hint to where we're actually going? Like, is it a long drive? Will it be cold? Something Troy, anything. I'll stop now before I sound annoying and whiny."

Troy laughed. "Nah, you'll never sound annoying or whiny to me, I actually find it rather cute. But, I won't tell you where we're going, you'll just need to see when we get there. Unless you'd rather not go?"

I turned to look closely at him before briefly sticking out my tongue, immature, whatever, I'm good.

The way he said that, it made him seem genuine -like he wasn't planning to mess with me. Really, it seemed as though he was being nice to me. Had I not known that he was going to try to uncover some nonexistent mask, and play around with me for his bet, I probably would have believed the very words coming out of his mouth.

We waited the next few minutes in silence as the rest of the runners began coming in. The walkers were still, well, walking, and if they didn't finish in the allotted twelve minutes, I'd have to say that would be rather pathetic.

"Still tired?" Isaac questioned as he and Richelle walked up to where Troy and I were resting.

"Nah, I finished a while ago, so I should be somewhat rested." I replied, my breathing steady at that point.

Richelle turned to Troy. "And you?"

"Same as Elle, my breathing is steady, and I'm not really tired." he responded, his voice seeming calmer than mine at the moment. Regardless of the fact that I should be the most rested since I ran first and whatnot. Boo to him and his ability to recover really fast I suppose.

"What'd you get on your mile?"

"7:36, not as good as you and Troy, but still an A by grading standards." Richelle responded with a slight smile. "You were the first to finish, so I don't doubt that you guys got a really fast time."

Troy shrugged like it was nothing. "Eh, 4:58, that's what Willow said anyways."

He has to stop acting cool. Getting 4:58 is amazing, even compared to his times. Honestly, yeah, he could have got a much better time if he wasn't partnered with me, but he asked, or more like stated, that we were partners. So, he's got to stop with this cool act and just be proud. Wow, I'm fucking analyzing so many of the things he's doing. Note to self: Stop. Just stop.

"Dude, Troy. 4:58 is amazing, so stop trying to play it off!" I exclaimed. "Come on, let's go watch everyone else finish." I added as I pulled Isaac and Richelle along, leaving Troy by himself. In a way, I guess I knew that he wouldn't follow us. I don't know how I knew, but in the end, he didn't follow us.

"What's up with that Elle? After this morning, you're on civil terms with him?" Richelle pressed.

"Honestly, I don't have a clue why our issues are resolved." I lied through my teeth. Aside from me and Shar, I wanted to keep this plan of mine on a need to know basis.

"I hope all goes well then." Isaac responded, speaking for the both of them as Richelle nodded her head in agreement.

Mhm, I hope it goes well too.

We played Frisbee for the rest of the PE period, and I didn't talk to Bolton anymore. I would talk to him after school anyways, we did have a date planned.

The objective of Frisbee today was to just throw the Frisbee at each cone in as little turns as possible. I lacked arm strength. I lacked accuracy. But, overall, I suppose to task went by really quick, and I was able to talk to Andrea, Richelle, and Isaac the whole time because Willow let us choose our own teams.

"God, this is boring!" Andrea complained. I had to agree, it was really boring after the first cone, or so.

At that moment, Willow's whistle blew, signaling for us to regroup around him.

"As some of you may know, I'm switching PE classes for this period." Willow stated. Wait, what? "For those who didn't, now you know. Starting next PE class, everyone in this class is going to switch to Coach Bolton. Yes, that's Troy's dad for those who are wondering. He has all Freshman PE classes except for this period, he currently has a sophomore class. To be consistent, he wants to switch. I don't really care who I'm teaching, but you are a really good class. Be sure to show him that you are, okay? You're dismissed and free to go to your lockers now."

Bolton? So, would Troy still be the student aid for Willow? Or, will he switch to be his dad's student aid?

I felt a presence sneak up next to me. I had enough sense to know that it was Troy, and I knew my friends slipped away as discreetly as they could. "I know what you're thinking."

"Tell me what I'm thinking then." I replied, diverting my attention away from my thoughts and towards him.

"Well, you're either thinking about how sexy I am." Gag me. "Or, you're thinking about if I'm going to be the student aid for your class or Willow's." Damn him and his accurate guess. How did he even know that I was thinking about that in the first place?

"How did you come to these conclusions?" I wondered, obviously.

"Your thoughts are written on your face, and you kept glancing in my direction." I was? Why isn't it that I'm not even aware of what I do? "I don't know if you realized that, but you were. I'm flattered at the attention, and since you probably would call me a narcissist if I thought you were thinking of the first thing I said, I can choose if I want to be my dad's aid, or stay Willow's. Both coaches don't mind, but I want to know, what do you want? "

What did I want anyways? Did I want him to be close to me, or distant? "I don't know. You choose, it's your choice after all."

"I'm just curious as to what you think. Well, you'll see next class, so it's another thing you'll have to wait for."

Did he really think my life revolved around waiting to see what happens? Because, really, it doesn't.

"What's your sixth period class? I'll ditch the last couple minutes and wait for you outside of your door." Troy changed the subject, and I would just let it be at that.

"I have Geometry Accelerated last period, Shinee's my teacher. But, you don't have to ditch class, I'll just wait for you in the student parking lot."

"Nah, I'm going to wait for you outside of class. Who knows, maybe there's cute girls coming out of your class anyways."

Troy Bolton really was a flirt.

"Yeah? Maybe there is, or maybe she's standing right in front of you." I replied as I walked into the locker room. He's wrong, I don't always run away from him, I walk away from him. That much, I agree with.

In the locker room, I listened to Richelle and Andrea's conversations, but I really didn't say much. I laughed on the right occasions and whatnot, but that's the extent. Quickly, I changed into my shorts, and folded my PE shorts to put back into my locker. Then, I changed everything else, fixed my small locker to make it look somewhat neat, locked it and sat there waiting for Richelle.

"Ree, you take forever to get changed -as if I haven't told you enough!" I expressed, putting myself into their conversation about Asian dramas. Richelle was trying to convince Andrea to watch one, but Andrea really wasn't interested.

"Surprise, I just finished!" she replied as she locked her small locker and gathered her belongings. I guess she did manage to change pretty fast, for once.

The bell rang, we were dismissed to nutrition break, and of course, we were in Horny Hallway again. Fabulous, really.

I guess Horny Hallway isn't that bad a hangout spot if you face yourself away from the people making out. It is rather spacious anyways, considering no one wants to claim this spot there's. So, there's one plus side.

I conversed with the group, snatched and stole a bag of chips from Jason. We were aloud to eat in Bio next period, so I plan on taking full advantage of that. Anyways, I'll share my food with Kelsi, and Ryan. Bio was an elective class, not a requirement, so it was okay having a sophomore like Ryan in our period.

"What'd you do in PE?" Jason asked, he had it next period. But, we don't even have the same teacher, so I have no idea why he questions me every time on what he's going to do in PE. The coaches do something different with their classes than everyone else.

"I don't have the same teacher as you, you know that." I replied, giggling slightly.

"Yo, Gabielle!" I heard Kuya Michael call as he threw me a Gatorade. I didn't catch it, so Chad dove to save it for me. "I know you love me right now!" he replied as he walked off with one of his Junior friends. Yeah, I did love him though, he would know that I would end up thirsty.

The ten minutes of Nutrition always pass by really fast, so it wasn't long before I found myself walking with the couple, Kelsi and Ryan, to Biology with Loera.

"I've got food!" I exclaimed with a smile.

"Chips and Gatorade. Sharing the chips, Gatorade for yourself." Ryan stated rather than phrasing it as a question. He knew me well enough anyways.

"Pretty much. What do you think we're doing in class today?"

"Considering we're the first period," Kelsi said. "I don't know. But, it's going to be with Investigations, and the basic stuff like what we learned in Middle School. It's the easiest lesson of the year anyways, so no need to worry if it'll be something hard to comprehend."

"Who says I'm worrying?" I replied as I opened the door. "Hello Mr. Loera!"

"Hi Gabrielle." Mr. Loera responded with his natural lisp, or was it slur? I don't know, Ryan was explaining it to me and I didn't quite get it. But yeah, he's one of those chill teachers who manages to get my name right the first time.I sat down in my respective seat, put the chips on my desk, the Gatorade on the floor, and grabbed a pencil, eraser, and my Biology spiral out of my backpack.

The rest of the class began piling in before the bell as I opened my bag of chips, delicious Hot Cheetos, and offered them to Kelsi and Ryan. It wasn't one of those small snack sized bags. it was a fairly decent size that would last for a little bit of time.

As the bell rang, our teacher began talking. "I'm passing out notes for this first lesson. Later, I won't be passing out anymore notes, so I'll expect you to print them at home. If you've got problems with that, just talk to me. Other alternatives include going to the computer lab, asking a friend, printing at the library, whatever." Mr. Loera said as papers were passed around the classroom.

Quickly, the notes were distributed and I found it hard to eat because the class was silent aside from Loera's lecture. Even though we already learned about the metric unit and conversions, of course, we had to copy down the notes and do the worksheet he handed us.

"At least it's easy." I heard Kelsi mutter.

"But, it's 3 pages back and front." I whispered to her. Really, easy as it was, it was rather long.

Before even starting, the three of us decided to split the work. Kelsi took the first page, I took the next, and Ryan took the last. When we were all done, we would just switch papers and copy. We wouldn't be losing the ability to learn anything new because we already knew this stuff.

Before the bell rang at 11:37, I found my spiral up-to-date with the new addition of the notes, the worksheets, and a blue pice of paper with more notes from the Biology textbook. Overall,, it was a very easy day.

Kelsi, Ryan, and I walked to my brothers' lunch table. They officially let us stay after the first day we went there, they've gotten use to the idea of having us with then anyways. It's better than eating lunch on the floor, next to the spit swappers, so I call it a win.

"Wanna go with me to buy food?" I asked Tay, she was my other best friend. Shar is the number one, then Taylor comes next. I'm Taylor's number two, too. Her best friend is Ryan, then I come next.

"Yeah, sure. Cafeteria or lunch carts?" she questioned back.

"Cafeteria, I'm in the mood for nachos."

"Alright, let's go."

We walked the short distance to the cafeteria, considering my brothers' lunch table was on the bottom floor of the cafeteria. The lunch carts were located outside with their never changing menu of cheese filled bread sticks, pizza, salads, and pre-made pasta bowls while the cafeteria had a variety of different foods everyday. Today, the cafeteria just happened to have delicious nachos.

"How are you and Chad?" I asked her. They weren't going out, but it was obvious to everyone but the two of them that they were madly in love, since we were seventh graders and Chad was an eighth grader.

He just never had the guts to make the moves. And, neither of them told the other of their feelings, no use to playing Cupid to two stubborn people, you know?

"What's between us? He only seems me as a friend." Tay replied.

No, he doesn't see you as a friend. Goodness!

"Is that so?" I responded softly, knowing the obvious truth.

"Mhm, it sucks. I'll treat you to nachos today, you bought me lunch the other day, and it's only fair I do it this time."

Really, it was no big deal. I give my friends money when they're out for the day, I don't expect anything in return because I mouch off them enough to settle anything between us.

"Taylor dear, you don't have to buy me lunch, I've got my money right here in my hands." I showed her the $3, lunch was $2.25. "You know I don't expect you to pay me back. I'm not stingy, and I already have the money."

"Too late." I saw her give $5 to the lunch lady and pass me my nachos while she got a bowl that she could fill with pasta.

I sighed, she was stubborn. Then again, so was I, but still, I don't need her paying me back because I bought her lunch before. "Thank you Tay, really, but you know I didn't need you to pay me back. In all honesty, I mooch enough for it to be considered as there never was anything to be paid back in the beginning."

It was weird how they did it, but you could add anything you want to the nachos. They pass you plain ones, and you add the cheese, and whatever else you want on it. For school lunch, it doesn't taste bad. It's definitely an improvement to last year's lunch. The only disgusting thing about the nachos was the beef to put on it. The oil in it just messed up the delicate creation you've set the moment it touches the cheese, and whatever else you pile on.

As I added everything onto my nachos -minus the beef, Taylor put Pasta Alfredo into her bowl, and grabbed sporks for us to use. Her's was to be used right away, mine was to be used when there were practically no nachos and mainly toppings on mine.

"Ready to go back?" I asked her, and I stood, waiting for her to add whatever else to her pasta bowl.

"Nah, let's stay here a bit before everyone tries to grab at your nachos or taste my food."

Smart girl, I knew there was a reason I asked her to come along with me, well, I didn't really have a reason at the time I asked her, but now, I know there's a reason. Damn, it's nice being able to eat your own food without multiple hands reaching without even asking.

We found ourselves just standing in place, eating our food without any conversation.

I sound like a hypocrite though, considering, I've done that plenty of times before.

I pulled my Gatorade out of my backpack, I didn't even open it in Biology because I wasn't thirsty during the 2 hour class. Surprisingly, I was satisfied. "Need a drink? You don't have to waterfall." I questioned as I extended the purple Gatorade. Funny, I never mentioned what color Gatorade Michael passed me.

"I'll drink later, let's walk back now." she replied as I looked down into her pasta bowl. It was halfway full.

I looked back towards my nachos, I still had a lot, but if she wanted to walk back, I'd walk back with her.

"What's up with you and Troy?" she asked, curiousity seeping through her voice.

"You have to promise you won't tell. I don't want to make some large production out of it, and I don't want a lot of people knowing. It might get out to him if a lot of people end up knowing."

"Of course I promise Elle, we're best friends." she responded in all seriousness.

I know I can believe her words, they're true as the day is long.

"But," she added. "If you like him, why wouldn't you want it to get out? You know, he might like you too!"

"Well," I looked straight at her. "I could say the same about you and Chad. Do you want me to tell you now, or will you interrupt again?" I questioned.

"Tell me, you know I won't tell anyone!"

I looked around to make sure he wasn't anywhere near us. Luckily, he wasn't. I couldn't see him anywhere, which was a good sign for me to tell her.

"I don't like him, really, I don't. He made this bet with some of his friends that he'd be able to get a date with me within a week. Today is the end of that week and we're going out on a date today." A date where I have no idea where we're going might I add! "I don't know what the stakes are, and I don't know why he would bet with his friends to mess with a girl, but I'll go out with him. And, I'll try to get him to be my boyfriend. At that point, when he really likes me, or loves me, I'll break up with him. He shouldn't be causing so many people such pain. I know, it's a cliche plan, and it could just as easily backfire in my face. But really, how do I counter a guy like that?" There really wasn't a longer explaination to what I was doing.

"Wow." she responded.

"It's brief, I know. But understand, I can't have a lot of people knowing. Anyone of those people could tell someone else and the word could be spread to him just as easily as I've told you know. I know you won't tell anyone though."

"Of course," Taylor assured me. "I won't tell anyone. But, what happens if you end up really liking him or even falling in love with him Elle? Do you still continue on with this plan of yours, or do stay with him because your feelings want you to?"

"I won't fall in love with him. And if I do, the plan comes before my heart. He's hurt so many others, I don't want to be just another challenge to him anyways." As I responded, we made it back to the group, where as expected, hands reached for my nachos.

"Here, take 'em." I said as I shoved them towards someone's hands. Whoever was willing to take them anyways. I ate enough, so I should be good.

While everyone finished eating what remained of my nachos, I listened to the scattered pieces of conversation until I heard Troy's voice.

"I have a date with her today." I heard him tell his friend, the same one from before.

"You have to get proof of this date, and kiss her. Yes Bolton, I need proof for both." his friend, Zeke I think his name was, responded.

"Easy shit. Be prepared to lose. You know, I take my bets very seriously."

"So I've realized. But, this girl seems very different. I just have a feeling you'll be losing today."

I don't know if my brothers could hear them, but I knew I could. Although, not loud and clear, I still could hear them. Now I know not to give him the satisfaction of a picture. You didn't need pictures to go on a date anyways.

The bell rang, and I went with Isaac, Kelsi, Sharpay, Chad, and Taylor to class.

Again, Geometry was one of those classes that wasn't grade permitted. The rest of us just happened to take Algebra as 8th graders while Chad took Algebra as a Freshman. You only needed three years of Math anyways, so no big deal that he was in our class.

"Can everyone sit down quickly so I can take attendance? After I'm done, I'll be leading you to Ms. Darbus's classroom, she will be your new Geometry teacher."

Wait, what? DARBUS?! Isn't she that eccentric Drama and Performing Arts teacher that both my brothers had the misfortune of having? I didn't even know she taught Geometry, let alone Accelerated Geometry.

"Don't worry everyone, she's a good teacher." I snorted. "And her room is just a few down from mine." Ms. Shinee explained. "It's just that all my periods have classes, and the school says I need a prep period. Since this is my last class, it's decided sixth period will be my prep period."

The class groaned, she was actually a really good teacher. But, I bet many of them have never heard of Darbus. I'm not one of the many though. OMG, I don't want to switch to her class.

"Please no, not Darbus." I whispered to my friends.

"She's the Drama teacher." Sharpay stated simply, being one of the thespians of East High.

"You of all people should know what kind of teacher she is. I've dealt with a school year of both of my brothers complaining about her. They needed a performing arts credit, and drama seemed easy. Easy until Darbus came along." I explained to everyone.

And really now, what are the chances of me switching two teachers on the same day? Apparently, when you're Gabrielle Mae Montez, the chances are very high. That, or if you're Isaac Han.

"Lovely, now I see her two times a day." Kelsi stated. She's the pianist for whatever production Darbus decides. Twinkle Town or whatever else.

"Class, please follow me, I'll lead you to Ms. Darbus. No, for those wondering, she is not teaching in the theater. She's in room 609, three rooms down from me."

We found ourselves in Darbus's room, and Ms. Shinee long gone.

"Hello everyone, I'm Alyson Darbus, but to you, it's always Madam Darbus." What the fuck is this lady playing at? "I prefer Madam, but if you don't remember, I suppose I'll settle if you call me Ms. Darbus. Any questions or concerns before you take the quiz for chapter 1?"

"Why are we taking the quiz already? We barely learned the material!" One student protested.

"We'll see how well you know the material. I'll have you take the quiz, give you a 15 minute break while I correct the quiz in class," There was some cheering, soon hushed by Darbus. "And we'll see what we'll need to review on."

The quiz was cake, I was one of the first to finish and I looked around her room while waiting for everyone else. It didn't look like the room of a math teacher, it looked like a replica of one of those stage rooms or something. There were masks, red curtains, the works.

My brothers warned me about her, and to think, I'm stuck with her Freshman year.

As the class progressed on and on, I've never been so happy to hear the bell ring. It rang with clarity at exactly 2:16, and I couldn't wait to get out of the room.

The fun was sucked when Darbus announced the homework assignment at the end of the period, just as everyone was leaving. Fuck this, like I'd be remembering it anyways. I'll ask someone later.

"Yo, Bolton!" I called to Troy, three doors away outside of Shinee's room.

He walked over to me. "And I wondered why the room was so empty while I waited for a good five minutes."

"How'd you even get out of class anyways? Your teachers wouldn't let you out without a note or anything with all your stuff."

"I'll tell you one day, today isn't that day."

"Wow, I get stuck with Darbus and you won't even enlighten me as to how you got out of class?!" I all but screamed in his face as I waved bye to my friends.

He stared at me in silence as we walked towards his nice car, which I realize now to be a Mercedes. Damn, he's really got money, or really generous parents.

"Hold up, I need to text my brothers. Gotta tell them I've got a ride and that I'll be home before dinner." I took out of my Samsung Gravity, it was white and aqua. Yeah, I have one of those mainstream phones, but in my defense, I got it before it was even mainstream!

"Why am I not surprised you have that phone?"

"I wanted the G1, but my brothers insisted that we weren't going to spend extra money to fuel another smart phone. They've both got really nice phones while I'm stuck with my second choice." I replied as he unlocked the doors and we were both inside the car.

"Where are we going anyways?" I questioned, I did have the right to know after all.

"Eh, you'll see when we get there."

I still pressed on. "Want to give me a hint then?"

"It's Japanese, I can't read any of it, and we press a lot of random buttons?"


End file.
